Autism and Vaccines - Looking at Both Sides of the Autism-Vaccine Debate

[George Giles]

The debate has been raging for years and has not died down. 
There has been research upon more research and many parents of
children with autism feel that the research is incomplete,
inconclusive or just plain wrong.
When there are no distinct answers to the questions of how our child
ended up with autism, as parents, we want answers.  The question
is, how do we determine which answers are true?  There is no easy
way to figure this out.
In the past, research was presented - initially by a researcher from
the United Kingdom - stating that he had performed a huge multitude of
tests on Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccines and determined that
they were the cause of autism.
Many parents were relieved to obtain an answer; however, they were
frightened by the findings.  They decided not to have their
children vaccinated any further and warned their friends and family
not to do so either.
There have been several results because of this.  One result is
that there is a higher incidence of Measles, Mumps and Rubella in many
children who have not been vaccinated.  This has led to many
clusters of outbreaks of the diseases - Measles, in particular - in
schools throughout the country.  Another result has been that
even with parents not using the MMR vaccines for their children the
number of children with autism has gone up, not down. 
In addition, Andrew Wakefield, the researcher from the U.K. who
originally blamed vaccines for autism, was later discredited by his
research partner who was investigated and who admitted that Mr.
Wakefield did unauthorized research including spinal taps, biopsies on
intestines and scores of blood tests on numbers of children who were
put under anesthesia without permission, and did other tests without
permission, some leading to other health problems for some of the
children.
The assistant also stated that Mr. Wakefield's methods were faulty and
that the reason for his stating that vaccines contaminated children
was that the methods he used were not free from contamination and he
was being paid one million dollars to prove that MMR vaccines caused
autism.  At the same time as he was doing this research, he was
trying to get his own separate vaccine approved.
He is currently charged with professional and medical misconduct and
will go on trial shortly.  If he is found guilty, he may never
practice medicine in the U.K. again.
More research is needed to determine this side of the facts.  In
a new book called Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine
and the Search for a Cure by Dr. Paul A. Offit, some explanations are
offered.  The book talks about the fact that science can be
misinterpreted and talks about the issue of vaccines among other
things. 
Though the author essentially feels that vaccines are safe and that
any ingredients that may have caused autism in the past have been
removed from them long ago, there is still some good
information.  There are explanations that whether we agree with
them or not, might make sense, and there are questions that are
addressed that might give parents an "Aha!" moment, even if they don't
provide the entire answer to their autism questions.
If you are a parent of a child with autism, this is a book worth
reading.  Even if you don't agree with it, there are at least
some logical points that could help lead to some real life answers.

Critical Information To Maximize the Potential of Someone With Autism:
http://groups.google.com.hk/group/autismnvc/